5 Best Inside Sales Training Programs & Courses

Sales Training

Chris Orlob

December 13, 2023

5 Best Inside Sales Training Programs & Courses

Inside sales is the sales model whereby products or services are sold remotely; typically from a shared office location, using email, phone calls, LinkedIn, and other online platforms.

This is a common approach in B2B SaaS sales, especially when selling products with lower average deal values and smaller buying committees. The inside sales team has business development reps (BDRs) who utilize sales prospecting techniques to find, nurture, and book demos for AEs — who then convert leads into pipeline and closed/won revenue.

Inside sales team members don’t have to travel across the world to close deals. It’s the main reason why B2B companies love the inside sales model, because it’s cost-effective, scalable and data-driven.

Inside Sales vs. Outside Sales

Inside sales and outside sales are different and similar in many ways.

Goals:

An inside salesperson and outside sales rep share the similar goal of helping companies generate revenue by bringing in new customers.

Mode of operation:

The inside salesperson operates from inside the office using remote outreach and engagement channels such as emails, phone calls, LinkedIn DMs, webinars, etc

Outside sales do most of their selling in-person. They can use phone calls to remotely book appointments too and often meet prospects onsite too.

Sales approach:

Inside sales uses a consultative selling because they deal more with inbound leads than outbound. Outside sales use relationship building because they need to meet people in real-time. Both techniques are effective for sales enablement and business development.

KPIs:

Inside sales reps track KPIs such as:

Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)
cost per lead
purchase value, etc.

Their KPIs are designed to account for the efficiency of their outreach methods, the quality of leads generated, and the overall revenue generated from those leads.

Outside sales reps track KPIs such as:

Rate of new contacts
Opportunity to win ratio
Event rates, etc.

Their KPIs are designed to measure the effectiveness of their networking, conversion rates from opportunities to closed deals, and the impact of events or face-to-face interactions on the sales pipeline.

Sales Cycles

Inside sales generally have shorter sales cycles because of their ability to engage with prospects remotely, leveraging tools like phone calls, emails, and virtual demos.

Additionally, inside sales teams often sell products or services that require less decision-making involvement, have lower complexity, and cater to a more transactional nature of sales.

Outside sales reps have longer sales cycles because they are often closing high-ticket deals. That’s because closing deals require:

Higher-touch interactions
Face-to-face meetings,
Product demonstrations,
More complex decision-making processes.

Lead Generation

The inside sales force uses both inbound and outbound techniques to generate leads. Outbound sales primarily use outbound engagement by proactively contacting prospects in person.

Training & Sales Tools

Inside sales teams work with sales tools such as CRMs, pipeline management software, conversation analytics tools. Training involves virtual coaching, communication and lead generation skills.

Outbound sales reps focus on tools that help them deliver great presentations and engage in constant relationship-building skills.

5 Highly Rated Inside Sales Training Programs & Courses On The Market Right Now

Pclub’s Inside Sales Training
Sales Readiness Group
Marc Wayshak
HubSpot Academy
John Barrows

1. Pclub: Inside Sales Training From Top 0.01% of Sales Leaders

Sales managers who come to Pclub for inside sales coaching enjoy a suite of expert-led online courses and training programs that cover every step of the sales process.

To access the training, you can buy the Platinum Passport which unlocks all courses so you can train your team members to crush specific sales processes such as running a demo and discovery.

Buy the Business Plan to unlock:

All online courses
A curated skill development program for your team.

A one-week live training workshop with the top 0.01% of sales leaders.
Proven skill transition programs and ongoing learning opportunities

You can also learn how to run a SaaS demos that drive INSANE close rates with our expert course: Win the Demo

Let’s give you an inside look of our inside sales training courses and programs.

Benefits of Upskilling with Pclub

Prospecting with confidence

There’s never been a more vital time to be able to generate your pipeline predictably through strategic outbound selling than now.

Your typical B2B buyer:

Will now complete up to 70% of their market research before contacting your reps.
Because around 60% of them (B2B consumers) want a rep-free experience.

In short, relying on inbound opportunities is unpredictable.

But outbound is equally as competitive.

Research from Belkins shows that to get 1 outbound lead, you need to send 300 cold emails.
It takes 8 to 10 touchpoints to get a lead to agree to booking a meeting.
72% of salespeople are expected to miss their annual quota.

What your team needs is not more templates and tips, but expert training from sales leaders who managed to close multiple 7 figure deals amidst the economic chaos.

We have just the right training for them:

👉 Conquer The Cold Call

This course is led by Trent Dressel.

Trent is VP of Sales at D&D Wholesale Supply– one of the oldest pharmaceutical and medical supplies distributors in the world. Formerly, he led sales at Qualtrics where he generated $1.54 million in net new ARR over 9 quarters as an AE.

Here are the key learning outcomes your team members can expect after taking Trent Dressel’s Conquer The Cold Call:

Your team will unlearn the common cold calling openers that instantly put your prospect on the defensive.
BDRs and SDRs will listen to 8 real-life cold call recordings to know what GOOD cold call looks like– in terms of cadence, tonality, pacing, objection handling etc.
Your reps will get access to a proven framework for keeping yourself accountable and "winning the day."
The often-ignored metrics that help you craft a reliable, repeatable, and predictable daily cold-calling process.

Get Instance Access To Conquer The Cold Call and 18+ Expert-Led Courses for Your Inside Sales Team.

But that’s just cold calls. Let’s talk about cold emails.

👉 Cold Email Conversion Machine

Here your team members will learn from Florin Tatulea.

Florin is Director of sales at Barley, LinkedIn Top Voice in Sales and the guy who personally booked 100 meetings and generated $3M in pipeline (from $0) in six months FLAT.

Cold Email Conversion Machine packs all the frameworks, tips, and strategies he used to write emails with 90% open rates and 25% positive reply rates, book hundreds of meetings, generate $3M of pipeline in 3 months, and see a 2X ACV on outbound.

Here are the key learning outcomes your team can expect after taking Florin Tatulea’s Cold Email Conversion Machine:

Understand how your buyers manage their inbox so your emails don't get swept into the trash.
Unlock the power of cold email storytelling with a timeless, repeatable set of "story structures."
The 'magic mix' of multi-channel sequence strategies (and how to nail yours)

Get Instance Access To Cold Email Conversion Machine and 18+ Expert-Led Courses for Your Inside Sales Team.

Learn proven techniques for converting leads

The difficulty of selling in the current market is like a two-headed hydra: Sellers don’t know how to buy and reps don’t know how to sell to them.

As your reps learn how to close successful sales on camera, buyers are equally learning to get comfortable making the buying decision without a physical, warm and long handshake.

What’s needed is a new sales methodology that provides balance on both sides– a win-win.

👉 SaaS Discovery Masterclass

In the SaaS Discovery Masterclass, Chris Orlob will walk you through the 5-step discovery system he used to grow Gong from $200k to $200M, increase his income to $1.63M, and train thousands of sales professionals to sell through an economic downturn.

Specifically, you’ll learn the following:

How to find deals destined to close by identifying business pain that money follows.
How to avoid losing deals to competitors at the finish line by first becoming a “trusted” advisor and then using a repeatable questioning framework to get buyers to favor you.
How to close successful sales faster and avoid getting ghosted by building the cost of inaction and urgency into your sales process

👉 Selling With Champions Course

Champions make your sales easier if you know how to transform them into your ‘power partner’.

In this course, you’ll learn how to find and empower champions that ‘run through brick walls’ and SELL when you’re not in the room.

👉 Rig The Game: Advanced Course

When prospective customers agree to a discovery, your reps can do everything right and still fail to close the deal because your presentation did not eliminate the competition by rigging these three buying conditions in your favor:

The buying criteria
The buying process
The buying committee

Fulfilling these conditions is the foundation of competitive selling. It is how your reps win your unfair share of competitive deals.

Here’s a short role-play of how Chris Orlob rigs the buying criteria to sell Gong, blowing even the most fierce competitor out of the water.

👉 Win The Demo: Advanced Course

In this expert course, you will learn the exact system Chris Orlob used to close $100,000,000 worth of SaaS.

Ready to win the demo?

Learn how to follow-up and close deals faster

So you’ve given a great demo and prospects want to consolidate their opinion and get back to you. Here’s how to follow up and avoid getting ghosted.

Here’s what your team will learn:

7-step framework to overcome any objection and never have a deal derailed again.
Learn exactly how to “systematically dismantle” your buyers status quo and stop losing deals to “no decision.
Exactly how to sell to cfos in an economic downturn, so you can close bigger deals faster and take your saas income and revenue to the next level.
How great tech salespeople use word-for-word "closing motion" techniques to close deals on time and without surprises.

Why Inside Sales Teams Choose To Upskill With Pclub

Comprehensive Curriculum:

Pclub offers an exhaustive range of modules, each designed to address specific areas of the sales process. From fundamentals to advanced sales techniques, the curriculum covers it all.

Real-World Scenarios:

The training integrates real sales scenarios, enabling learners to understand and practice situations they will encounter in their roles.

Interactive Learning Experience

Pclub incorporates quizzes, role-playing sessions, and interactive activities that cater to various learning styles, ensuring maximum retention. Typically, sales leaders need to administer these experiences via a corporate learning platform and manage the training materials manually. With Pclub, that headache gets solved for you.

Expert Instructors

Learn from industry-leading sales professionals who bring years of experience to the table. Their guidance and feedback are invaluable for up-and-coming sales representatives.

Flexible Learning

With both instructor-led and self-paced options, learners can choose the mode of learning that suits their schedules and preferences.

Certificate of Completion

On completing the course, learners are awarded a certificate, providing them with a tangible testament to their skills and dedication.

Cost-Effective Pricing

While offering top-notch training, Pclub ensures its courses are competitively priced, providing value for money.

Alumni Success Stories:

Pclub boasts an impressive track record with numerous alumni achieving great sales success post-training, showcasing the program's efficacy.

2. John Barrows: Best for Hybrid Sales Training

John Barrow’s Drive To Close is a great hybrid sales training for inside sales teams. Your team would learn how to control the sales meetings, objection handling, and closing.

John teaches strategic deal-closing techniques that begin with creating a common language, for you and your customer, using a customized “deal scorecard.”

That way, your reps can objectively measure the health of any opportunity in their pipeline, uncover impact, drive urgency and close deals faster.

The delivery method.

Drive To Close is an on-demand online course.

Who’s your trainer?

John Barrows is the instructor for Drive To Close. He is one of LinkedIn’s Top Voice in Sales, Forbes’ Top 30 social sales people, and has trained thousands of sales professionals at some of the fastest growing and most successful companies in the world.

What’s the pricing?

Drive To Close is hosted under John’s Sales Membership subscription, which costs $420 every year.

3. Sales Readiness Group: Best for Sales Management Training

High-Impact Sales Management Training equips sales managers with practical skills for onboarding, coaching and leading a high-performing inside sales team.

The training features instructor-led workshops with role-playing exercises, scenario-based learning and business-specific exercises, all of which are beneficial for newly promoted or experienced sales managers.

The delivery method

High Impact Sales Management Training combines classroom-based sessions and virtual workshops.

Who’s your trainer?

High Impact Sales Management is facilitated by reputable sales trainers with many years of sales leadership.

What’s the pricing?

Request a quote.

4. Marc Wayshak: Best for Sales Process Training

Marc Wayshak’s sales training program implements a data-driven approach by leveraging the latest science and data on what's actually working in sales today to help your sales team achieve their sales goals.

Marc combines step-by-step sales process training, customized training tracks, downloadable resources, and a vibrant online forum, to transform your sales team in 90 days.

The delivery method

Marc Wayshak’s sales training is delivered through online video courses and interactive exercises hosted inside the Sales Insights Lab.

Who’s your trainer?

Marc Wayshak is the instructor for this sales training program.

What’s the pricing?

Request a quote

5. HubSpot Academy: Best Free Online Sales Training

Hubspot’s Inbound Sales training is best for small business owners who want to grow their inside sales operation through an inbound strategy.

The course covers:

inbound sales fundamentals,
buyer prioritization,
attracting customer attention,
understanding the buyer journey,
delivering personalized presentations.

The delivery method.

The course is delivered online through 22 video lessons that can be completed in under 4 hours.

Who’s your trainer?

Hubspot’s Inbound Sales training is facilitated by Hubspot Academy’s trainers.

What’s the pricing?

HubSpot’s inside sales training is a free program.

Inside Sales Strategies and Best Practices

Inside sales combine inbound and outbound sales strategy to generate leads and increase revenue.

Inbound vs. Outbound Sales: Key Points

An inbound strategy requires your sales force to align with Marketing to promote campaigns that will attract and capture potential leads.
This requires using lead capture mechanisms such as webinar sign-up, whitepaper requests, demo requests, etc.
Outbound sales strategies involve proactive outreach to potential prospects through cold outreach, live chat interaction, social selling, contacting new leads through referrals, etc.

Prioritize lead quality over quantity

Naturally, inside sales inbound strategy is best for targeting a large customer base with a high volume of leads.

So, when sales charts go down, the first instinct is to increase the number of opportunities in the pipeline with an aggressive outbound prospecting.

However, a lack of quality data at the top of the funnel would most likely lead back where you began – less meetings, more outbound marketing.

It’s more effective for your reps to adopt a stricter quality-intensive prospecting and lead qualifying process.

Aside from creating an ICP and custom qualification criteria, consider other options.

Run incentivized surveys that contain prioritized qualification questions
Use predictive modeling to determine what accounts are most likely to close.

Identify decision-makers and overcome gatekeepers

By pinpointing decision-makers, you gain the ability to influence buying criteria, understand the purchasing process, and address objections effectively.

This approach allows you to strategically position yourself to steer the deal in your favor. But it requires that your reps are comfortable selling to decision makers.

Master how to handle cold calling vs. warm calls

Proficiency in handling both types of sales calls allows inside sales reps to adapt their communication style, pitch, and strategies accordingly.

Cold calling expertise helps in various ways.

Generating new leads and expanding the customer base
Nurturing relationships by increases trust
Improves the chances of closing deals.

Learn how to follow-up without being creepy

Mastering non-intrusive follow-up methods is crucial.

Inbound leads often leverage sales proposals to compare market prices. If they agree to receive a proposal, your product likely holds value and is among their top selections.

But your follow-up approach significantly impacts the process.

While persistence is key. Be sure to balance personalization and relevance in the following areas:

Your messaging; what you say.
Your cold email copywriting; how you say it.
When you say it; (timing), etc.

Grab The 10X Cold Email Template to copy the exact Word-for-Word Email Template I used to grow my own startup $0 to $3M In 8 Months Flat.

Use role-playing techniques to master how to run effective discovery & demo sessions

A great demo is both arts and science in sync.

While the real learning begins when you’re in the hot seat with a real customer, you can still learn how to plan discovery calls through role-play scenarios.

Consider setting up virtual training with colleagues and practice the following:

How to open the conversation.
How to set expectations.
How to ask questions that unveil pain points that money follows?

Improve your team’s CRM proficiency

Don't remain fixated on traditional methods. Customers are constantly exploring new marketing channels. Leverage CRM insights to explore these channels, track, engage, and convert customers. Automating these processes enhances the speed at which leads are captured and managed.

Sales Skills for Inside Sales Professionals

The skills required of an inside sales professional depends on their role. SDRs, BDRs, and AEs are all inside sales reps– but each role has distinct responsibilities and skill sets.

To succeed, inside sales professionals must be masters at finding the customers with the right profile, building rapport with them, using the data to optimize the interaction, closing the deal, and building long-term sales opportunities.

This requires skills like:

Objection handling: Learn the techniques for overcoming objections and closing deals
Account management: Build relationships with companies in a way that guarantees long-term retention and upsell opportunities.
Consultative selling: Most B2B prospects want a rep-free experience. Consultative selling helps you stand out, and establish prospect trust.